Lovely Asian Meatballs

20130807-110841.jpg

This is my Lovely Asian Meatball recipe that I love. I have tried many different recipes and I finally wrote down my very own. You can also make this vegetarian by leaving out the meat and adding more lentils to my mix. The great thing about cooking you can tweak any recipe you want to make it just right for your family and their taste buds! I really hope you make this cause it is so YUMMY!! Oh… I took the photo super quick with an iPod so it does not show the food off that well, but hey, it is a photo and kinda gives you an idea of what it looked liked before it was devoured.

Ingredients

Meatball Ingredients:
1/2 beef mince (ground beef) (or 1 kilo or 2lb if you don’t use lentils)
(I used 1/2 kilo of mince because I love lentils in my meatballs I think it keeps them moist)
1 can of cooked lentils (blitz or smoosh up the lentils into a kind of paste)
3 tsp. sesame oil
1 Tsp. of tomato paste
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. paprika (not essential but nice)
3 small eggs or 2 large eggs
3 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 to 1cup sliced onions
A dash of salt and pepper
A dash of cayenne pepper for a little heat
1 cup Panko (or breadcrumbs or crushed up cornflakes)
1/2 cup rice flour

Additional garnish: toasted sesame seeds or poppy seeds

Additional Side Dishes:
Basmati rice (cook as much or as little as you need to)
Salad (anything you like)
Beans (to steam)

Asian Sauce Ingredients:
2/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. honey
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 Tbsp. Lemon or Lime juice (not essential but yum)
(You may want to double the sauce recipe if you love huge amounts of sauce)

Serve warm, and sprinkle with additional garnish like chives or spring onions if you want.

Method
Preheat oven to 190 Cel or around 400 degrees.
You can cook this on the stove top BUT you will have to be careful as the meatballs may fall apart.

In a large bowl, mix together meatball ingredients until combined. Shape into cute little balls. Mix your panko or breadcrumbs with your rice flour and gently roll your meatballs in it to give you a yummy crust. (If you are all about the crust then the stove top method of cooking will give you more of a crust. BUT I was happy to put them in the oven on this day.) Then place on a baking paper or greased pan sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until meatballs are golden brown on the outside and no longer pink on the inside. Remember the larger the meatballs the longer they will need to cook!!! Oh and turn down your heat slightly if you have made large meatballs otherwise they might dry out.

Remember to make a lovely simple green salad. I normally would have cucumbers, cilantro, spring onions, in my salad but I was all out, so only tomatoes and lettuce made it in this salad. The salad helps balance the intense flavours of the meatballs. I used a light balsamic, olive oil vinegar but whatever you like would be lovely.

While the meatballs are in the oven, we can put the rice on, make the salad and steam some beans. I use Basmati rice and I make it in my pressure cooker. The rice takes five minutes on high in my pressure cooker. NOW it is the time to make the sauce. I popped a sauce pan on the stove to gently heat the sauce! I just hate food that should be hot cooled down with cold sauces (just saying). Once meatballs have finished cooking, pour your warm sauce over the meatballs and make sure each meatball gets their fair share of sauce. Any left over sauce can be put in a jug to have for topping up at the table. If you copy this recipe please enjoy it and please name your sauce or source and make sure you include a link to my recipe. Thanks 🙂
Copyright 2013 1pastorswife

20130807-110751.jpg